Box Score GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Salisbury University ended the game on a 4-0 run and the second-ranked Sea Gulls broke open a close game to beat fifth-ranked Bullets 10-7 in a premier non-conference men's lacrosse match-up Saturday afternoon at a blustery Shirk Field at Musselman Stadium.
The contest featured four ties and four lead changes, with neither side leading by more than two until Salisbury's final goal of the game.
Seniors
Jameson Smith (Glen Ridge, N.J./Glen Ridge) and
Paul Werner (Westfield, N.J./Westfield) posted two goals and one assist apiece for the Bullets, who saw their 16-game regular-season winning streak come to an end. Gettysburg had not lost in the regular season since a 14-12 loss to No. 19 Franklin & Marshall College on April 23, 2014.
Junior long-stick midfielder
Chris Palladino (Basking Ridge, N.J./Ridge) posted another big defensive performance for the Orange and Blue with three ground balls and five caused turnovers while sophomore goalie
Tim Brady (Charlotte, N.C./Providence) finished with eight saves.
Nathan Blondino paced Salisbury (4-0) with three goals and one assist while Thomas Cirillo notched two goals and two assists. James Burton finished with one goal and four assists while Duncan Campbell won 13-of-17 face-offs for the Sea Gulls. Joshua Dean turned aside seven shots in goal for the visitors.
Salisbury scored a pair of man-up goals to take a 2-0 lead midway through the first quarter. But the Bullets rallied with two goals of their own, as freshman
Michael Risser (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East) struck off an assist from classmate
Thomas Heller (Livingston, N.J./Livingston) with 2:39 on the clock before Smith converted a man-up goal off a Werner assist with 21 ticks showing to make it a 2-2 game at the end of the first quarter.
Neither side would score again until the final minutes of the second quarter, which featured a combined 13 turnovers. Gettysburg took its first lead of the game when Smith potted an unassisted tally with 3:20 remaining, but Salisbury closed the period with back-to-back goals and carried a 4-3 edge into the intermission.
The Bullets opened the second half on a flurry, scoring three times in just over three minutes. Werner bounced in a shot with 13:09 on the clock before senior
Mike Distler (Lutherville, Md./Loyola Blakefield) cashed in off an assist from Smith to put the Bullets up 5-4. Heller capped the surge when he buried a shot on the left post off a feed from freshman
Blake Gray (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh School) to give the hosts a 6-4 lead with 11:52 left in the third quarter.
The Sea Gulls came back to tie it with a pair of goals before the Bullets went back in front on another bouncer from Werner, making it 7-6 with 7:34 on the third-quarter clock. However, it would turn out to be the final goal of the day for Gettysburg.
Salisbury scored twice over the final seven minutes of the third quarter, with Burton giving the Sea Gulls an 8-7 lead with 57 seconds left in the third quarter. The visitors tacked on a pair of insurance tallies in the fourth quarter, when the two sides each took six shots. Dean made two of his saves in the final 15 minutes.
Gettysburg picks up its schedule next Saturday, when it visits fifth-ranked Lynchburg College at 1 p.m. in rematch of last season's NCAA Division III semifinals.
